Fire and Gold: Rei's Love
by Grace of Mercury
Summary: Rei remembers her true love from the Silver Millenium and is briefly reunited. Not in the same vein as Ice and Silver, even though they have similar titles. PLEASE R&R!!!


Author's Note: Hi everybody! I'm a newbie, so don't bee too brutal! This is my first  
  
fic on moonromance.com, but anyway I WANT COMMENTS! E-MAILS ARE THE BEST THINGS IN THE WORLD! E-MAIL ME PEOPLE! Come on, feedback is really, really appreciated. My address is Graceofmercury@yahoo.com. Also, if anybody has any plot bunnies that they want somebody to write up, they can send them to me and I'll do my best to try and oblige. If anybody has any suggestions for future stories (who they should feature, what should happen, etc.) I'd REALLY appreciate it. Ok, my little rant is over.  
  
Disclaimers: No, none of the Sailor Moon characters belong to me, so don't sue me!  
  
Rei sat in front of the fire at her temple. It was late at night, and yet Rei stared into the fire as though it contained the secrets to her soul. And yet, Rei wasn't meditating. She didn't see the flickering golden and red flames, but instead saw a certain face, a face that threw Rei into a turmoil of hate, love, confusion, and sorrow.  
  
Jadeite.  
  
She had picked up a particularly fine jade stone at an antique store, and had been drawn to it from the beginning, especially after she sensed an aura great power around the stone. And yet, ever since she had, she kept seeing the face of the dark general everywhere; the guy she passed on the street, in commercials, even in the shape of random patterns, except when she saw the dark general himself.  
  
She seemed to be haunted by a ghost of a young man with short blonde hair, laughing blue eyes, and a quirky grin that made Rei's heart melt. And yet, when Rei saw the real deal, when they were fighting, she was inexplicably disappointed. This Jadeite's face was cruel and petty, mean, and had never known the light of laughter. And yet, they shared the same features. It was amazing what a difference a different personality behind the same features could make-wait a minute, slow down. Rei shook her head, strands of her purple-black hair floating about her face. Why did she keep on thinking that there were two Jadeites? There was only one, and that one was evil and had to be destroyed.  
  
However, Rei kept feeling that something in the back of her mind was niggling her, urging her to remember. Something like a wistful ghost always whisked across the back of her mind whenever she saw a tall, blond-haired blue-eyed young man, or when she saw or smelled Casablancas.  
  
Rei had always been wary and suspicious of men. Yes, she had gone out with Darien with a while, but to tell the truth, it had only been to get Serena to realize her feelings for the tall, black-haired, blue-eyed college student. A smile touched her lips. The things she did for her friends. Even though there were rumors to the contrary, Rei had been the happiest person in the world when Serena and Darien had finally gotten together. Though it was mostly because that meant she didn't have to pretend with Darien anymore.  
  
And yet, sometimes, when Rei saw Darien and Serena in a simple embrace, Rei's throat caught. It wasn't that she wanted Darien; she didn't. She just wanted somebody to hold her like that, somebody to wipe the tears away, somebody who would always be there, no matter what. Yeah, the scouts were closer than blood-sisters to her, but it wasn't the same.  
  
Rei let her mind drift back to her few fragmented memories of the Silver Millenium. Her brow furrowed, and then, as she sunk into light trance, she remembered.  
  
**A light, tenor laugh with her own laugh. Hysterical laughing from two people, a flash of blond hair, a feeling of being whirled around giddily, and everywhere the sight and smell of Casablancas falling around. Rolling down a hill into a heap of arms and legs with.. with..**  
  
his face was obscured in shadow, but Rei saw two intense crystal blue eyes.  
  
**Raging, throwing items around, seething with pure fiery anger, everybody scattering in front of her, nobody daring to stand up to Rei at her fiercest. Except one. A tall, blond-haired figure stood in front of her, and firmly stopped her rampage by putting two hands on her shoulders. Rei tried to throw the arms off, but this, this mystery person spoke to her, kindly, firmly, patiently, understandingly?**  
  
Rei's brow furrowed. She could recognize herself in a rage; heck, sometimes she was scared of herself when she got worked up to full steam. Obviously this "special someone" could take Rei even at her worst.  
  
**Tears sliding down her face, somebody gently using their hand to wipe away a drop that was glistening on her cheek. Somebody's strong arms enfolding her from behind. She leaned back, content to take comfort in this unknown person's strength. And the two just stood there, bathed in starlight.The feeling of sorrow was drowned in the utter happiness, now that she was in this man's arms.**  
  
Rei became even more confused. Rei had never depended on anybody like that.  
  
**A ruby, flashing like frozen blood or love, polished until it gleamed and glistened in the fading light of the sunset. The ruby was set in a ring of icy gold, and, and somebody was offering it to her. Rei could feel her dream-self gasp, then burst into giddy hysterics as she choked out the word yes and then, the sensation of a ring being slipped onto her finger- by- by- -**  
  
Jadeite! Rei gasped as she jerked violently out of her trance. She had been in love with Jadeite, even engaged to him! Rei took a few deep breaths, and then calmed herself down. She wanted to know what had happened her own personal utopia so long ago.  
  
**Deep concern and anxiety; her love was going off to fight, and she had to stay here and guard the princess. For the first time in her life, she resented her duty to her liege. Then she sighed; Serenity was her best friend, other than the other scouts, and it was her job. Jadeite came up behind her, and whispered,  
  
"Don't worry about me, love. After all this settles, we can get married and live happily ever after." Rei giggled, then turned around to face her love. As she looked up into his face, she thought her heart might burst. She had never felt this way in her life, and looking into his face, she became lost in his crystal blue eyes.  
  
"Rei. No matter what happens, Rei, never doubt that I will always love you." He said quietly, intensely, as if the power behind each word could sear them into her mind. "Sometimes I'm scared of how deeply I love you, Rei. But then I look at you, and I know that everything is right." Rei choked a bit, and then Jade smiled and said, "Why, my senshi of fire, I believed I've turned you into a watering fountain." This got a watery smile from Rei.  
  
"Well," quoted Rei, "You risk tears when you let yourself be tamed." Jade smiled, and yet the smile trembled, and he said, "Yes. Grief is the price we pay for love."  
  
Rei stared earnestly up into his eyes, and said, "Jade, we never know what might happen, but; I love you and always will, though all hope might be gone." Jadeite stroked Rei's cheek one more time, then rode away."**  
  
Rei took a deep shuddering breath. She didn't understand how she could have forgotten such deep emotion. Even after trying to calm herself, Rei felt her heart twist as she thought about Jadeite. And then, abruptly, she was pulled into another memory.  
  
**Fighting desparately; backed into a corner, and furiously she fought her way out. She ran out onto the palace entrance grounds, then stopped dead as her blood drained from her face when she saw the four new enemies riding up to the devastated moon palace.  
  
The Four Generals.  
  
And yet, there was something wrong with them; it was apparent from the first that the four generals had not come to be reunited with their lovers; the youma army marching behind them made that very clear, as did their drawn swords and aggressive and hostile stance. Kunzite's lips were twisted into a bitter, thin smile, Nephrite's eyes were cold and hard, Zoicite, had, had become Kunzite's, erm, partner?!? It seemed that the new Zoicite had, from the way he was clinging to the ex-head general. In the midst of all the disaster, Rei felt her lips pull into a bitter, dry smile. Poor Ami. Of all the twisted endings of the moon kingdom, Rei certainly hadn't seen that one coming.  
  
Rei felt her heart twist when she saw Jadeite. She was expecting her heart to break when she looked into his eyes, and yet, and yet.  
  
Rei felt nothing. There was nothing in those intense blue eyes. Just hatred and bitterness, neither of which the real Jadeite had known. There was no heartbreak for her, because this wasn't her Jadeite. This simply wasn't him. This was just evil sporting the façade of her love. This was simply another manifestation of evil, and the fact that it sported the face of her love meant absolutely nothing to her; it was just a mask, and the real Jadeite was somewhere, perhaps not safe and sound, but Rei felt safe and secure and almost happy in the knowledge that her love had not betrayed her. Perhaps her love was dead, his cold body slain on earth, although Rei furrowed her brow as she tried to reach Jadeite through her soulmate bond; her love was not dead; he was weak, wounded, and his spirit was almost broken, but he wasn't dead. Rei felt a certain sorrowful happiness in that his vows of love had rung true to the very last. In any other circumstances, Rei would have been heartbroken about her love's death, but the bitter happiness that Jadeite had been true to her kept Rei on her feet and her chin up, eyes clear and proud and defiant. And Rei knew that Jadeite would have wanted her to kill this evil that had used his appearance, as a final service to his memory. So that was what she did.  
  
"Flame Sniper!" Then Jupiter was at her arm, wrenching Rei's hand away. The fireball dashed off harmlessly, scorching the ground twenty feet away. Rei looked into Jupiter's face, utterly astonished.  
  
"Rei, how could you? They're our loves, even if, even if--" Here Lita choked off, as if she couldn't bear to actually say out loud that her one love had turned evil. Rei looked at Lita, and it dawned on her that Lita believed that it was the real Nephrite out there.  
  
"But Lita, those aren't our real loves, " Rei said, indicating the advancing enemies.  
  
"But Rei, they are! Can't you feel your soul mate bond, can't you feel that those traitors out there are-were our loves?!?" Lita's face was flushed, her eyes wide and overbright.  
  
Rei concentrated on that link that she always maintained with Jadeite. It was on the deepest level of her consciousness, and when Rei reached out, she found that the link indeed lead to the location of the four ex- generals. And yet-yet-  
  
Something about this didn't feel right. But suddenly, Lita and Rei had no more time to ponder the mystery. The four generals suddenly initiated a charge, and the four scouts reacted instantly by clustering together around the gate. It was one last, desparate defence, and the four scouts and the four "generals" both knew it. The four scouts might have been able to hold off the four generals, but there was no way that the four scouts could defeat the youma army that was charging behind the four leading generals.  
  
Suddenly, Rei saw a shield spring up around the four generals and the four scouts. Rei saw Ami's distinctive blue magic and wondered why Ami hadn't set up a shield before. Then Rei saw Ami's drawn face with her practically translucent skin, and realized that Ami was giving her life in order to set up the shield, draining herself of all her magic and her life force. The generals had been too close, and so Ami had had to set up the shield around them as well.  
  
*Lita!* Rei sent her thought message through the links that the scouts maintained with each other. *Our duty is to defend the princess against ALL possible threats. Despite from who these threats come from.* Or appear to come from, Rei thought grimly to herself. Out of the corner of her eye, Rei saw Lita nod, then defiantly set her chin up against her love, despite the heartbreak behind the emerald green eyes.  
  
And then there was no more time to think. Jadeite was on her, slashing and whirling until there was nothing but trying to parry a thousand flashing blades. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Rei was disarmed. Rei backed up, as the Jadeite look-alike advanced on her, his teeth in a feral grin. Rei stared into the once familiar crystal blue eyes, searching for any hint of recognition, any sign of emotion, for she could still feel her soul mate bond. She was still staring at him when he suddenly, viciously stabbed her through the heart.  
  
Rei staggered, and then appearing to bend down, she drew her assasin's knife and in turn, stabbed the ex-general. The ex-general stood for a fraction of a second, then simply crumpled.  
  
Rei fell to the ground; she thought dimly that she must have been hallucinating, because she could still feel her soul-mate bond with another living being at the other end. Her vision misted, otherwise Rei would have seen and noticed a jadeite stone that hung from the ex-general's uniform glowing slightly.  
  
"I love you." Rei whispered out with her last breath. "Jadeite.?" With that, the stone flared up brilliantly, but Rei was past hearing, past seeing, past knowing. But not past loving.**  
  
Rei came out of the trance with a jerk, then became deathly still. Her face was as white as paper, and her pupils were dilated out of all normal proportion, her eyes having become large purple pools swirling with confusion, regret, forgotten and remembered love, and overall, heart- breaking sorrow that was thousands of years old. Tears glimmered, but Rei refused to let them spill over. She had learned early in her present life that tears were weakness, and Rei had long ago vowed to eliminate all weakness.  
  
The jadeite stone started to glow. Then, like a sigh, like a sigh of light, a swirl of golden light came from the stone and coalesced into the form of a person. Even before the image stabilized, Rei knew who it was, from the pair of crystal blue eyes and golden hair.  
  
"Jadeite." Rei's voice came out in sigh, a question, a broken promise. She hesitantly put a trembling hand out, but it passed right through the vision.  
  
The apparition smiled at her. *Hello, my love. It's been a long, long time.* Rei heard her love's voice echoing in her mind, as if she was at the end of a long hall.  
  
"Yes. It has." Rei stood up quietly, so now the general and the scout were both standing, facing each other. "Jadeite, what exactly happened in the silver millenium? I still refuse to believe that you killed me." The apparition's face twisted with grief and regret.  
  
*Rei.* Rei shuddered; nobody had ever said her name that way before, and tears once again threatened her. *When we were called back to earth, we were lured into a trap during battle. Beryl entrapped each of our souls and spirits into the stone that we were named after. After that, she gave one stone to one youma, and cast a spell so that as long as the youma were in contact with the stones our souls were entrapped in, they would have the likeness and manner of each of us. That's why you could still feel me through our bond even when you killed the youma, because I was still entrapped within this stone. Beryl has gotten smarter; she's learned enough magic so she doesn't need the stones in order to make the youma appear in our person.* Rei asked the question that had made her heart dance in her throat ever since she had realized that she had loved him, and still did. She tried to force the words through her tight throat.  
  
"Is there any way I can be with you again? Is there any way you can become what you once were, with a physical body living here?" The apparition smiled sadly, then said,  
  
*Rei,I need to ask you to release my soul by breaking the stone that I am entrapped in. That way, my spirit can finally be free. If you do this, there's a chance that I might be reincarnated, in the same way that you and the other scouts were.* Rei's brow furrowed as she worked through the implications of his statement. "But Jadeite, what if you aren't?" Rei asked, her voice quavering, and for once, it was the voice of a very young, scared girl.  
  
*Then you will always have memories of me, and the knowledge that I love you, and always will, even after I have faded from existence.* Rei realized that there was a chance that she could lose Jadeite forever if she released his soul. She was about to protest when she looked into the apparition's eyes. Within them, there was sorrow, regret, overwhelming love for her, but there was also the bitter need to be free from his prison. Gathering herself, Rei heard herself whisper, "Very well, my love."  
  
Choking back a sob, Rei's trembling hands picked up the jadeite stone. Her hands shook so violently that Rei was afraid that she would drop it, Then Rei visibly pulled herself together, and she threw the stone with all her strength against the stone steps of the temple.  
  
A brilliant flash of golden light flared up and lit up the entire area. Rei could feel Jadeite's soul start to slip away, but right before he disappeared completely, Rei heard his voice echo one last time through her mind, repeating those words spoken so long ago. *Rei, never doubt that I will always love you.* Rei cried out the familiar words that she had given him once upon a dream. "I love you and always will, though all hope might be gone."  
  
And with that, Rei was left on the cold steps of the shrine amidst shards of jadeite. Dimly, Rei noticed that tears were streaming down her face. "Why?" Rei whispered at first, her eyes going blind with grief. "WHY?!?!" Rei screamed to the cold night sky, her internal agony and torment revealed by the tortured expression on her face. "Why? They say that grief is the price paid for love, but we've paid the price!" Rei brokenly sobbed out, "We've paid the price of love in blood and tears.."  
  
AN: Hey! It's me again! Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it, and also, the quote "You risk  
  
tears when you let yourself be tamed." is from the Little Prince, by St. Antoine De  
  
Exupery, while "Grief is the price we pay for love." is from Queen Elizabeth II, who  
  
in turn stole it from Shakespeare, I believe. Anyway, again, FEEDBACK! Also, if there is anybody willing to be my editor and give me comprehensive feedback, not just grammar and spelling corrections, e-mail me! Again, at graceofmercury@yahoo.com. Tell me, should  
  
I write more stories w/ Senshi and Generals and should they end happily or not? Come on,  
  
people! 


End file.
